May 30, 1991 - Struggling to Survive Among HumansMay 30, 1991 • The Suffolk Times , CS
Struggling to Survive Among Humans
By Paul Stoutenburgh
Wildlife throughout the world is hav-
ing a difficult time in today's expanding
population and modern technology. The
great forests of the North American con-
tinent are under attack, our prairies have
all but gone, overseas the wonders of
Africa are being eroded and the great rain
forests of the world are the target of
continual clearing and logging. The face
of the planet is changing and with it its
vast storehouse of plants and animals is
dwindling each day because of loss of
habitat. Many of us are concerned about
mankind's future.
Yet despite all the grim warnings,
some plants and animals are putting up
a real fight to survive. A classic exam-
ple right in our own backyard is the
number of reports coming in from
around the East End concerning nesting
killdeer. Killdeer are members of the
shorebird family that nest in our area.
At one time every farm that had straw-
berries planted or gravelly fields would
have its killdeer nesting. About the size
of a robin but a bit slimmer and colored
with earthy hues, this ground nester can
almost disappear from view as it sits on
its mottled eggs. Its only conspicuous
markings are the two black breast bands
that, once detected, stand out to identify
this plover.
I first became acquainted with the
killdeer and its nesting habits when I
started taking pictures of wildlife. I
flushed one off its nest in a strawberry
patch where I was picking one of Long
Island's finest produce. At first I didn't
know what it was for it ran a short way,
then spread its tail and lay on its side as
if hurt or wounded. I went after it to see
if I could help but it only got up and
ran another 20 or 30 feet and performed
again. Then I remembered reading about
birds that lure one away from their nest
with a "broken wing" act. Sure enough,
I'd fallen for it and it took me a long
time to backtrack and find the nest with
the four eggs the bird was incubating.
Calls About Killdeer
Since then I've learned of an occa-
sional nesting pair but nothing like this
Focus on
Nature
year. I've had four different calls about
nesting killdeer. I think the reason for
so many calls is that the birds have be-
come desperate for a place to nest and
are forced to use nesting sites close to
man, therefore being observed more
often.
One call was from a lady with a bird
nesting on her front lawn, another was
from a man who had one nesting in his
flower bed. A call from a farmer told of
his pair nesting in his raspberries,
which is the classic kind of area I'd ex-
pect to find them in.
The one that defies all logic and goes
back to the beginning of my tale on the
loss of habitat and how some birds are
trying to survive despite man taking
over is the one where a killdeer had
found a break in the blacktop of a park-
ing lot and chose it for a nesting site.
The problem was the parking area is be-
hind the town recreation building and
cars and people often surrounded it.
Even then, it persisted and became used
to the traffic, so much so one could
walk to within 20 feet of the bird and it
wouldn't leave its nest.
There are many instances I'm sure
that you too know where wildlife has
adapted to man. a lady I know had a
garter snake take up housekeeping under
her porch and whenever the snake was
out on a nice day it could be found sun-
ning itself just outside the door.
I've often had calls from folks living
along the creek about muskrats that
come out of their wet habitat and feed
on their front lawn. And who hasn't had
their problem with Mr. Raccoon in the
attic or garage?
Last week I mentioned mallard ducks
nesting in the oddest of places next to
man: flower boxes, geranium beds, un-
der docks, you name it. Just the other
day I saw a sparrow nesting in a swing-
ing traffic light. What with all the busy
cars and traffic of all sorts this improvi-
Photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh
NESTING KILLDEER —This ground nester chose the middle of a
blacktop parking lot to make its nest. Natural habitat is getting harder
and harder to find.
sor had found a place to call home.
Fights for Survival
This persistence to survive is not
only found in the animal world but in
the plant world also. No matter what we
do to keep out the dandelion from our
lawns it persists, and how the grass
comes up in my brick walk I'll never
know. I only wish it would do as well
where it belongs.
One of the greatest survival feats I've
ever seen concerned a mushroom. I've
always thought of a mushroom as being
soft and tender but when someone put
in a blacktop driveway over some
budding mushrooms, my opinion
changed. They actually pushed up
through the hard blacktop. They too
wanted a place in the sun.
All these examples of plants and ani-
mals only go to show that if we give
our natural world a chance to survive it
will make it. In doing so, we will make
our world a better and healthier place to
live.
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